If Only......

The wonderful thing about the developing category of green design is that everyday a new and exciting product is introduced to the marketplace. So it is inevitable that before my house is done, I would have come across some things that make me wish I could turn back the clock. Oh well, there is always the next project to try these out in.

Some of my new favorites:


Barkskin is a lovely wall covering that can also be used for lampshades. It’s literally “bark” that does look like skin. It comes in may colors and configurations…. As many as there are trees. www.barkskin.com. See room photo at right.

Caesarstone is another wonderful quartz surface material that has as many uses as granite . It’s amazingly hard and looks a lot like my favorite countertop material that I did use www.eurostonecountertops.com. See it here at www.caesarstone.com. It also reminds me of another favorite, www.coveringsetc.com.

Bohemian Stone Works takes concrete countertops to a unique and natural level. The end result is a really wonderful, natural look: www.bohemianstoneworks.com.

Slatescape is another “fiber cement” product that is quite sophisticated in its final state. Its uses are varied and very much like real stone www.americanfibercement.com.

Syndecrete
takes concrete to artistic levels as the fireplace photo to the right demonstrates. www.syndecrete.com

Icestone is an interesting product that is very similar to Vetrazzo (www.counterproduction.com). The color variations are many and it’s got a very nice feel. Makes a wonderful countertop in kitchen or bath. www.icestone.biz

Side note….. see the coordinating knobs at www.janicepeacock.com.

Eleek.
They make sinks, countertops, lighting, these guys do it all. I particularly love some of their sconces fabricated from recycled metal. See photo of light and sink www.eleekinc.com.

Sonoma Cast Stone is right in my back yard and I think they do a fabulous job with concrete. They manage to produce fabulous sinks, pavers, furniture, tiles, surrounds. Just looking at their portfolio gives me so many ideas. www.sonomastone.com

Livinglass. A friend of mine, Richard Silver, just discovered this product at HD EXPO in Las Vegas last week. He knows how much I love the 3-Form glass product and liked how I used it in this renovation. These guys take it to a new sphere. I am impressed! www.livinglass.com

Floor Gres is an Italian company and they know how to work with stone in all its permutations. Again, this stone product is very much like the Eurostone that I used and has as many applications as stone. Check it out at www.floorgres.it.

Wood That Could

Among the termite damage that we discovered was a portion of the fence that surrounds my property. This portion of the fence is the oldest and we share it with an older neighbor who hasn’t spent any money to maintain her home so while other portions of the fence had been updated, this section has probably been up for over 20 years. So it isn’t surprising that many of the supporting posts were riddled with termites.

Cemil had his team pull out the posts and take off the boards. What we did discover is that some of the old redwood boards are in good shape and quite lovely. Once planed, they can be reused. And so they will. We are going to create a pool equipment enclosure and having these nice old redwood boards will give the new construction and old feel so that the “new” pool house will blend in nicely with my older, weathered outdoor teak furniture.

The learning…..even old wood can be renewed and reused and make a beautiful and cost efficient addition.

When Any Old Door Won’t Do!

Ok, so I was not an integral part of the decision-making that went into getting new doors into place. I only knew that the old ones were warped and always had to be held open by doorstops. Cemil chose the doors and he made sure they were not your usual Douglas Fur. Rather, they are MDF and are of 97% recycled material. Formaldehyde free, of course. And they are now up and ready for painting. I can vouch for their being solid and attractive. And they are green too!

I have to put in a plug for Truitt & White for anyone in the bay area of San Francisco who is looking for a building supply partner. They are able to offer lots of advice and their green knowledge and product experience grows daily. (www.truittandwhite.com).

Green Shopping in London

Favorites:

Of all the stores that I happened on in my quest for sustainable and organic products, I have to say that I really enjoyed a small antiques store on New King's Road at Waterford (Fulham Broeadway tube stop) that reupholsters settees, chaises and fainting couches in the most delightful fabrics. The store had about 6 on display and the owner says that he scours tag sales and restores them on a regular basis.

Runner-ups:

Summerill & Bishop Kitchen Shop for their wonderful collection of interesting houseware products and many are vintage pieces. (www.summerillandbishop.com).

Books for Cooks (www.booksforcooks.com)
not only has just about any cookbook that you could want but they also have an area in the back of the store for the chef/owners and store enthusiasts to gather and sample what’s baking in the oven that day. I felt guilty about tearing a shop person away from her tea and pastry in order to ring me up.

Channels furniture design has innovative designs and many are from sustainable woods. (www.channelsdesign.com)

Borough Market is a Saturday morning must. Its collection of artisanal foods and organic products is impressive. I'm told that you can regularly spot most of England's new chef stars here. For me, it rivaled San Francisco's famous Ferry Plaza Market. Go hungry and buy picnic food. (take London Bridge tube stop)

Around London Town

Now that I have recovered from the airplane croup that is inevitable on very long flights these days, I can get back to recording my observations. Also to helping Cemil with the finishing touches on the house. We are 3 weeks away from completion and this is where the beauty of green finishes will become evident. But I tease you, as that will be the next blog.

A side note, I heartily recommend No Jet-Lag, a homeopathic remedy. This was the I first time I used it and I did much better than my boyfriend who depended upon his prescription on Ambien. (www.nojetlag.com)

I wanted to share several more interesting observations that came from my week in London doing green discovery.

Love it:

Noticed that they are using more and more “wooden” disposable cutlery than plastic. I think they are so much more compelling and given that they are generally made from “leftover” pieces of veneer, they are easier on the planet than all that plastic stuff.

Recycled glass dishes that were made in Spain at a store in Notting Hill called Ceramica Blue (www.ceramicablue.co.uk). I found similar ones from www.vivaterra.com. Sadly there was a fabulous copper colored one in London that I can’t find at Viva Terra.

Discovery:

I had read that some interesting design is beginning to happen in Brick Lane (the main artery of what has been called “Banglatown” in London’s east end). I did find some wonderful quirky boutiques, many of vintage clothing, original jewelry, and some groovy home furnishing stores. I also discovered a wonderful organic restaurant, Story Deli, where I had a delightful flatbread. I particularly like their innovative ways for storage in a very small space. They had these interesting stools made of heavy waxed paper that also doubled as storage bins under the “tops.” They told me that they were available at a shop in the area but it is only open on weekends. I’ve included a photo, as they would be easy to replicate.


Kudos:

A friend of mine from San Francisco introduced me to Nina Campbell, a world famous designer (www.ninacampbell.com). So since Nina is based in London, I rang her up to see if we could get together. Well, she generously invited me around to her new home off Fulham Road and hosted a luncheon with some of her friends. It turns out that she has a great deal of interest in green design and invited several of her designer friends to view a presentation I pulled together of some of my favorite products. The group included Susan Crewe, editor of English House and Garden and John Lees, a local architect who has been doing green work for sometime (www.leeassociates.com). I enjoyed meeting these “tastemakers” and hope that I was able to contribute in some small way to their considering more green products in their work.

I promise to share my some of my picks with you in later blogs.

London State of Mind

I have been offline because I spent a week in London exploring the state of “greenness” in the design community here. And I’m pleased to report that, in typical British style, they are doing an amazing job of catching up and will, no doubt, surpass the U.S. in embracing sustainability. While it is true that America is at its best when we really invest and focus on innovation. But, sadly, we are not so adept at changing our lifestyles or thinking beyond our own borders.

Global warming is an undisputed reality, despite what holdouts like Rush Limbaugh and fringe, Exxon-Mobil supported “experts” from the Competitive Enterprise Institute (see article in May "green" issue of Vanity Fair).

Happily, a quick survey of the British papers (from the Guardian to the Daily Telegraph) all seem to be equally concerned about what British citizens and the government need to do to stem the inevitable consequences of the destructive tide that we are facing if we don’t act as a global community now.

The U.S. seems, as is often the case, to be debating the various merits of options. As a result, the debate is stifling real progress. This crisis calls for more of a concerted effort than Americans are generally comfortable with. That doesn’t seem to be the case for the Brits. In spite of this enthusiasm I have for the emerging UK focus, they still have to play catch-up but I am very confident that they will get on with what needs to be done.

An interesting time to be in the UK on a quest for eco-friendly activities:

•The London marathon was held and it was one of the hottest on records. The newspaper headlines reported how difficult it was for the runners and predicted that the continued “unseasonable” heat is going to be difficult for the country, citing the expected steamy underground environments and preparing for passengers who are likely to be overcome by very “sweltering” temps.

Expectation: 117 plus degrees and stockpiling of water for travelers

•Designer Anya Hindmarch and Saintsbury experienced unexpected enthusiasm for limited edition reusable grocery bags that sported a motto, “I’m not a plastic bag” and sold for 5 pounds. Consumers lined up at 3:00 a.m. to get one of the 20,000 limited edition bags and were reported to already be selling on e-bay for 175 pounds.

Result: Saintsbury announces a monthly “make a difference day” in which similar PR stunts will be revealed. Communities and stores around the country announce the banning of plastic bags and consumers will now have to pay for carrier bags.

•Ineffective recycling efforts are being reviewed. Currently the concern for terrorists has resulted in the removal of bins for trash and recycling in tube stations and in many public areas. As a result, recycling has taken a back seat. However, the press seemed to be reporting on ways to return a focus on making recycling easier and more available. I have no doubt that they will have solutions by summer’s end.

Observation: Unlike the US, where we have plenty of land to “dump our trash,” all of London’s, for example, is put on barges and send down the Thames to Essex where available land mass is limited. So it’s imperative that England get serious about the amount of trash they produce. It’s not an option for them as they don’t have the land that we do in the U.S.

•Attitudes seem to be more open to eco-solutions than I’ve noticed in the U.S. In my informal and very unscientific interviews of various shop owners and residents, I encountered less skepticism and more interest in my eco ideas than I’ve experienced in the U.S. outside of California. Maybe because this is a citizenry that has gotten used to taxes and mandates (such as the congestion tax for cars that enter London and is now being proposed for NYC) and rather than rail against them, they seem to almost accept it as a way of life. Libertarianism is not as deeply entrenched in the UK as in the U.S.

•Organic food is finally catching on in London. For the first time, I found evidence that England is making note of healthy eating. I was delighted by a visit to the Borough market on a Saturday that made me feel as if I was back at Ferry Plaza in San Francisco. Organic purveyors of meats, produce, breads, and juices were everywhere. As I wondered around Notting Hill, Chelsea, and even East Aldgate, I found wonderful little organic eating establishments. I happened on a Whole Foods and several British knock-offs, like Planet Organic and One Stop Fresh (www.onestopfresh.com)

Next Post: More on green design in the UK

A Cautionary Tale

This may be an expanding post as we discover the “challenges” that some of these new products present. Having been in high tech for the past 15 years, I’ve grown accustomed to “beta” versions. And it is no different with these new green applications. While many of them are wonderful and ready to embrace, there’s bound to be a period of discovery about their wonderful idiosyncrasies.

As we begin to install the many green finishes that I’ve raved about in earlier posts, there are a few learnings the manufacturers don’t tell you about. I prefer tothink that the lack of information is oversight and not as a means of misleading customers. In fact, when brought to their attention, the manufacturers seem to appreciate the feedback. Let’s just hope these companies use the information to help educate their customers. After all, it’s always best to set expectations at the beginning of a relationship, right?

Several times in the past week or so Cemil and I have had some doubts about our choices. But in the end, we managed to find a way to work with the products and they are in the house. But, I hope this information will save you some of the frustration that we’ve experienced.

Richlite. We really do like what this product, but there are some caveats in working with it. It is a countertop product that can be used in as many ways as Corian. It’s made of paper (see more about the manufacturing process here www.richlite.com). Our issues are:

Color. It changes, pretty dramatically…..much as what happens to newspapers when left in the sun or as they age in your attic. I’ve included an example with this color change with the photo. The small green sample is what my countertop “will” become over time. The larger sample is where it is right now. Currently the green has definite bluish tints, but is going to deepen with yellow tones into a rich olive color. And the olive color is the one that I anticipated with the rest of the finishes that I chose. The manufacturer’s representative said that it is the “organic” nature of the product and that one shouldn’t base a color scheme around it. And I grant him that wood, metals and some stones will age and burnish over time, but we can anticipate what happens to copper, as example, (because of past experience) and rarely do these products change their tonality (cool to warm tones—as in the case of this green).


Durability. By that I mean, how the product holds up to wear and tear. While I can’t comment on that yet, Cemil can. He’s had Richlite countertops in the baguette color in a home that his family uses. And he’s noticed that it will hold on to soap residue (particularly colored soaps) and other stains. Of course, this product can be sanded and re-polished, but that seems to be a lot of work for most people. For this reason, we both think the darker colors are the way to go in Richlite.

Organic floor adhesive from DriTac (DriTac 7500 Eco-urethane) www.dritac.com. In the end, we are pleased with the performance of this adhesive that is keeping our EcoTimber pre-engineered maple floors in place (www.ecotimber.com). As Cemil has commented…..should a tornado ever hit Sonoma, he can guarantee that the floors will be the only remaining part of the house. But it took several frustrating hours to discover the idiosyncrasies of this product and when we reported back to the manufacturer, they seemed surprised by what we learned.

First, the product uses way too much packaging. It’s just not green to use metal containers, extra thick cardboard boxes, and styrofoam to deliver these containers.

Second, the instructions provided with the product do not caution you about the following:

1- Transfer small amounts to plastic containers as the a) product dries quickly, becomes too thick to use; b) doesn’t stick to plastic in the end and cleanup means merely lifting out a latex looking mask; c) is impossible to apply in large containers.

2- Work with small amounts of the glue at a time—preferably only applying to floor one plank at a time. The adhesive dries very quickly, is thicker than most, and has a memory. So when putting your pre-finished floorboard in, you must put it in place quickly and don’t even think about moving it too much. Keep in mind the “thickness” of this adhesive and allow for that in your measurements.


3- Keep rechecking your work because of the “memory” aspect of the adhesive. If you need to shift a board, then you have to work harder to get the board back to where you ultimately want it.

4- Applying the glue seems to be much like frosting a cake with a very tacky frosting. I watched Cemil and Jim “twirl” the adhesive around so that they could then trowel it onto the floor. It takes some practice to feel comfortable with the application process.

EcoTimber pre-engineered maple flooring. It's beautiful but there are a few things you should be aware of when choosing this particular product from EcoTimber.

* All EcoTimber is graded according to European standards so that means you get A/B not just A boards. And as such, you will find more knots, heartboard anomolies, and mineral streaks than what one might be used to (see picture for example). The company said that you can expect dime size knots and we found many more that were quarter size. Apparently they use computer equipment to "grade" the material and they are calculated for dimensions and size of dark material. Not quite effective, according to my untrained eyes! Most of this is generally calculated for when adding 10% for waste.

* The light maple is more of an issue. There are going to be more "organic" elements that can distract from the overall look. It means that you should count on another 5% of waste. That can really increase the cost of your flooring.

Ultimately, we are still pleased with these products, just not with the information that was provided by the manufacturers. And we all know that getting new products established and having them take hold is as much about ease of use as about how they look.

Tile Style

We've gotten to that stage of the project where the magic really starts to happen. The finishes are now getting installed and all the design planning is ready to be judged. So far, no real regrets.

The bathroom tiles are certainly living up to expectations.

In the guest bathroom, we used white subway field tile from Fireclay www.fireclaytile.com. There were several reasons in using this resource: 1)it is local (San Jose, CA); 2)none of the glazes contain lead; 3)the "Debris" series that I used is manufactured using 50% post-consumer and post-industrial recycled materials. I liked this effect because it gives a slightly less "finished" result and there's a warmth of the material that comes through the white tile. Those who have seen it agree, that the effect is quite compelling. I used a recycled glass contrasting band in green.




In the master bathroom, I can't do justice with a description of the glass tiles that I used from. As I look at my newly tiled shower stall in the cane iridescent 1 inch glass field tiles from Oceanside, www.glasstile.com, I think of a jeweled box. It's a lovely effect and again I really like the irregular nature of the the glass pieces. Constatine, a tile "artist" who installed the product, did complain that the transparent nature of the color I chose made his work a bit more difficult. He had to have a smooth (not troweled) based on which to lay in the glass tiles and in spite of their being held together by 12 x 12 inch sheets of paper, they were heavy and took great care in getting them to hold in place. He did a masterful job and I love the final look.


I paired this with a fabulous pebble rock flooring from Fireclay's collection called "jelly bean". Not only do the weathered pebbles feel wonderful underfoot but the effect is a bit like looking down through a clear water stream to a rocky bottom below. It was easy to install and the only hard part was picking and applying the grout so that it wouldn't be too deep to cover the pebbles up too much.

All in all, the choices were not only natural but beautiful. The price ranges were from $13 per sq. ft. for the pebble rock; $20 a sq. ft. for the field tile; to $28 a sq. ft. for the glass tiles.